Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

This is my jam.   

Defenders.  I stayed away because I was worried; the look of it screams Netflix tie-in.   But would they do it right?  I'm also on a bit of a Bendis overload, and I wasn't jumping to pick up anything by him right now.   (Dude is funny, but some of his stuff can feel very, very formulaic if you read enough in a short time.)

But Bendis writing Deadpool?  Yeah, let's check this shit out.   I also didn't look at the next issue when this was on sale, so there was a little Deadpool, but not enough for me to tell if Bendis seemed to write him well but didn't have a full grasp of him.   He does well enough and I've read reviews of the next issue which confirm Deadpool plays a greater role, and that Bendis writes him well.   Weeeell, at least according to that reviewer.   So, now it's full price again and I'm going to wait and see if I can find seven on sale.   (Somewhat related note: Comixology unlimited might be worth the monthly fee for the 15% off many comics, additional coupons you get like the buy fifteen dollars, get five dollars off, and other bonuses - even if I don't actually read borrowed titles that much.   That made buying this about eighty four cents instead of the full price of four dollars, and then it was really less with that coupon.)

Disappointing that I didn't do my research, but they didn't put Deadpool on the next cover.   

I have to admit I was worried about the Netflix series meeting the main universe, and this makes me more worried.   I may pick up an issue now or then, but I can't really wrap my mind around some issues enough to get fully invested in this title.   And here lies my problem: Netflix doesn't meld with 616.   And this borrows heavily from both.   It's using the Netflix popularity to try to sell this, so the look of the team is the same.   There wasn't anything that made me think this was a direct tie-in, just, as I say before, a melding.   Except... there's no Jewel, the superhero that Jessica Jones was when she first came into her power.   Her Purple Man history is actually quite drastically different, as he was a Daredevil villain who wanted her to murder him.   She went to the Avengers mansion, despite DD not being an Avenger, saw Scarlet Witch and went 'Daredevil' and started beating on her.   When her husband, Vision, got angry, he beat Jessica into a coma in an effort to defend his wife.   (I believe it was a mixture of rage-haze and Jessica having powers and being powerful enough to actually really hurt Wanda.   Which added to the rage-haze.)   In Netflix, aka MCU, DD doesn't know Purple Man.   This is important, because if they cover that, and try to play it off like 616, it'll get weird.   If it isn't 616, Deadpool wouldn't be in this.   

See, Netflix is running the Defenders, which is part of Disney's MCU - the Marvel cinematic universe that is owned by Disney.   Deadpool is owned by Fox in the movies right now.   Did I mention it was getting geeky like this in here?   

So here's the problem: Deadpool means 616.   But... there isn't a Defenders team in 616 running now.   Jessica Jones' series doesn't fit into this, and from what I've seen, they don't reference each other at all.   Is this a new bubble that doesn't fit into anything?   This Jessica Jones is not Krysten Ritter.   But she looks very, very similar, more so body type and way she dresses and talks, than exact facial features.   Also, she doesn't want to call in Deadpool's favor - and in her series, which I will review a bit of next - everyone does everything for Luke Cage, because it's Luke Cage.    She definitely could have called someone else if it was straight 616.   

Also, Fisk is problematic in this.   He's gone, but in DD he's just been elected Mayor of New York City.   So, which is it?   It's not 616, but it can't be MCU because Deadpool wouldn't be showing up.   Add in conflicting inconsistencies like the fact that Luke and Jessica are married with a baby - with nothing like that happening in the series - and it's super confusing.   Is this the TV series in the near future?   But again, Deadpool is owned by Fox.   Now, maybe Marvel is just doing this because they can, and they can always claim this is 616 or at least 616 adjacent, and are sure they can't get sued by Fox.   But the fact that this is unexplained in any way made my inner!geek very irritable.   

Look, it was good, it was fun, I plan on buying seven the next time it goes on sale, but I can't rate this higher than two and a half for being left in the complete dark.